by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

by Jeff Zillgitt, USA TODAY Sports

The travel, Hall of Famer Jerry West recalls, was brutal. The Los Angeles Lakers flew commercial on the first flight out the morning after playing a game the night before. No charter jets with catered meals. No luxury hotels. None of the perks of NBA players traveling today.

But West and the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers got themselves out of bed on road mornings, went to the next city and won. And they won at home. They won 33 consecutive games and established a record that appeared to be unbreakable.

"Some of our travel was maybe more difficult than the games we played," West said.

The schedule was rough, too. Not just back-to-backs. But multiple back-to-back-to-backs â?? three games in three nights, including four sets of them during the Lakers' record streak.

"Frankly, I didn't mind three games in a row. I really didn't," West said. "For me, you're much more focused. All you had to do was worry about trying to get some rest, which was difficult because we did not fly privately. For us at that point in time, I don't think any of us thought it was anything other than another day at work. But it wasn't work. It was fun."

West and his former teammates are back in the news, more than 40 years later, because of the Miami Heat. With a 98-95 comeback win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, the Heat have won 24 consecutive games, walking up sidewalk and getting ready to knock on the door of the Lakers' record.

But the Lakers didn't just have tough travel and tough scheduling to hurdle, they had to face good teams several times. Back when the Lakers were ruling the world, there were 17 teams. There are 30 in the league today.

"I see a lot of players in the league today that I don't think are very good," West said. "Expansion has diluted the talent. It hasn't made talent better. It's harder to get a lot of good players on one team today."

But that doesn't mean West isn't impressed with the Heat's streak.

In fact, he is.

"It's really kind of an exciting time for me to watch what's going on in the NBA and certainly what Miami has accomplished," West said.

And after looking at the Heat's schedule he said it's hard to point to a team that will end Miami's streak.

"It may not end. That's why I think it's so remarkable," West said. "I look at the schedule and I see one team on there that's a terrific team, and obviously that's the (San Antonio) Spurs."

He thinks the Heat can break the Lakers' streak.

"Honestly, they've got an incredible chance to do it," West said. "I think it could very easily be broken this year."

And unlike members of the unbeaten 1972 Miami Dolphins who didn't want another NFL team to go unbeaten, West isn't rooting for the Heat to lose.

"Frankly, people say to me, 'Does it bother you?' Absolutely not," West said. "I think it's great for the league. â?¦ If they would break it, my gosh, I think it would be a wonderful story. I have no problem with that. â?¦ I never thought this streak would last forever."

West, 74 and on the Golden State Warriors' executive board, spent nearly 30 minutes on a teleconference Thursday reminiscing and appreciating.

He watched Miami's incredible comeback from a 67-40 deficit to get that win Wednesday against the Cavaliers.

"My wife said 'Oh, they're going to lose,' " West said. "I said, 'No, they're going to win by 10.' When you're playing at that level, you do have a different gear. It's almost like the regular season and the playoffs. That was almost like a playoff gear (Wednesday), particularly their second half."

West knows what that feeling is like. The Lakers were 6-3 the morning their streak started. It was the first game of a back-to-back-to-back â?? three games in three days. They won those three, and then the next 30.

They didn't have many close calls, and just one overtime game. Their average margin of victory was 15.7 points during the streak, and West said, "It got to the point where you'd go to games and if you didn't win by 15, you were disappointed.

"For us here in Los Angeles and all the players we played with," he said. "it was one of those magical years."

The streak ended with a loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had 39 points, and Oscar Robertson, who had 17. There was no shame in that loss, the Bucks were the defending NBA champions.

"It seemed like the end of the season for us, almost a loss in the playoffs," West said. "We all went into the locker room and it felt like you lost your best friend."

The Lakers, who were 39-4 when the streak ended, got over it quickly. They went on to finish with a 69-13 record and beat the New York Knicks for the championship.

The Heat, whose average margin of victory is 10.9 points in the past 24 games, appreciate their streak, but for Miami, all the consecutive wins will only have significance if they win a second straight title. West understands that point, too.

"It certainly would've hurt not to have one, that's for sure," he said.

Another reason West is cheering for the Heat is because of team president Pat Riley. Riley was West's teammate on the 1971-72 team and the Lakers' coach when West was the team's GM during the championship-laden Showtime era. He even joked that he used to tell Riley to go bother their teammate Gail Goodrich during practice.

"I'm delighted obviously for my friend Pat Riley because he's going to be able to maybe replicate this not only as an executive but as a player," West said. "That's pretty special."

Equally appealing to a guy like West, who appreciates a true superstar when he sees one, is watching the incredible play of the Heat's LeBron James. The favorite to win this season's most valuable player award is averaging 26.6 points, 7.3 assists and 8.2 rebounds per game.

"Miami has the biggest star in the game, the best player in the game, and having him as a teammate has to be very special for all the other players," West said. "He makes it easy for them. He's just one of those unique players who come along. â?¦ He's just an amazing player. Frankly, I'm thrilled for him because of all the negative things said about him as a player. He's rightly proved what kind of player he is and more important what kind of a person he is."

But how you know West is a true aficionado of the game is how he talks about the Heat's defense.

That, coming from a guy who played in an era without the three-point shot, but when teams routinely scored triple digits during a game.

"Some nights you can go out there and not make a shot. It might be all of you and it becomes contagious," he said. "But the one thing they've got for them is defense. They can really get after you because of the ability of (Dwyane) Wade and particularly LeBron. They're ball hawks. When you turn the ball over, it's going to be a layup."

But to put their name in the history books, the Heat will have to be able to withstand the pressure. Pressure the Lakers didn't have in the same way.

It wasn't a time of 24-hour news cycle and most games weren't even televised.

West, though, said he thinks the Heat won't be fazed.

"There's going to be more focus on the games," he said, "and I think it makes the players focus more on trying to achieve a record that everyone said couldn't be broken.

"My gosh, you look at that schedule and you think to yourself, 'I don't know who can beat them.' It's going to take a combination of a team shooting the ball well and also has the capability to defend to beat them and obviously a poor shooting night on Miami's end."